The Chhattisgarh State Electricity Regulatory Commission (CSERC) has notified the Framework for Resource Adequacy Regulations, 2026, establishing a comprehensive planning mechanism to integrate renewable energy and battery storage to ensure a reliable electricity supply.

The regulations, which come into force upon publication in the official gazette, apply to distribution licensees, the State Load Despatch Center (SLDC), transmission utilities, and other grid-connected entities.

The Commission introduced the regulations to address the growing complexity of power system operations, driven by rising demand, the integration of renewable energy, and evolving consumption patterns.

The regulations recognize the need to align supply planning with demand projections by requiring utilities to assess existing and upcoming generation resources and identify future capacity requirements.

DISCOMs must prepare long-term distribution resource adequacy plans (LT-DRAP) for 10 years, medium-term distribution resource adequacy plans (MT-DRAP) for 5 years, and short-term distribution resource adequacy plans (ST-DRAP) for 1 year.

The Commission has mandated that utilities maintain a balanced power procurement portfolio, with a strong reliance on long-term contracts (70–80% of the requirement), supplemented by medium- and short-term arrangements, while limiting dependence on short-term market purchases.

Resource Adequacy Requirement

A key aspect of the regulations is the integration of renewable energy and storage into planning. The framework provides detailed methodologies for calculating the contribution of renewable sources through capacity credit mechanisms and requires utilities to consider technologies such as battery energy storage systems and pumped storage projects.

Distribution licensees should compute capacity credit for contracted renewable energy generation resources using the net load-based approach.

The average Capacity Credit factor for each type of contracted generation resource over the past five years, on a rolling basis, should be considered the Capacity Credit Factor for generation resource planning.

Distribution licensees should keep the share of long-term contracts at 75-80% of the Resource Adequacy Requirement (RAR), medium-term contracts at 10-20% of the RAR, and the balance of the RAR covered by short-term contracts.

Demand Assessment and Forecasting

Distribution licensees must carry out detailed, data-driven forecasting of electricity demand across long, medium, and short-term horizons.

The regulations mandate the use of historical consumption data, economic and demographic factors, and advanced analytical methods, while also accounting for emerging trends like electric vehicle adoption, distributed energy resources, and demand-side management.

The peak demand should be determined by considering the average load factor, seasonal variation factors for the last three years, and energy forecasts.

The framework requires scenario-based forecasting, hourly load profiling, and aggregation at the SLDC to ensure accurate estimates of future demand and reliable system planning.

Procurement Resource Mix

Distribution licensees should ensure an optimal mix of procurement resources and enable the smooth integration of renewable energy into their power procurement portfolio. To identify optimal power generation, optimization techniques and least-cost modeling should be employed.

Distribution licensees should consider long-, medium-, and short-term contracts for generation resources to meet RAR.

Power procurement from wind, solar, wind-solar hybrid, and round-the-clock generation should be carried out in accordance with the Ministry of Power’s guidelines.

Distribution licensees should contract storage capacity for future years from battery energy storage systems, pumped storage projects, or any other cost-effective energy storage technology.

Variation in Power Purchase

If there is an unanticipated increase in electricity demand or a shortfall in electricity supply from any approved source, the distribution licensee can enter into additional contracts to procure power.

Distribution licensees may enter into a short-term contract to procure power in response to emergency conditions that threaten grid stability.

Approval of Power Purchase Agreement

Any new power purchase agreement (PPA) for medium- or long-term purposes, or any other power sale agreement (PSA) signed by the distribution licensee, will be subject to the Commission’s prior approval.

The Commission has imposed strict monitoring, reporting, and data-sharing obligations, requiring distribution licensees to maintain extensive datasets, share information with SLDC, and adhere to defined timelines for submission of forecasts and plans.

To ensure enforcement, the regulations impose penalties for noncompliance and require Commission approval of procurement plans and power purchase agreements.

The framework also introduces institutional mechanisms such as the creation of a Resource Adequacy Cell, mandates stakeholder consultations, and requires public disclosure of key operational data to enhance transparency.

In February this year, CSERC issued clarifications regarding the applicability of wheeling and Deviation Settlement Mechanism charges to intrastate open-access consumers, proposing a one-time settlement mechanism for past billing periods through January 2026.

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